1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to data transfer, and, more particularly, to inter-domain data transfer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Businesses typically rely on network computing to maintain a competitive advantage over other businesses. As such, developers, when designing processor-based systems for use in network-centric environments, may take several factors into consideration to meet the expectation of the customers, factors such as functionality, reliability, scalability, and performance of such systems.
One example of a processor-based system used in a network-centric environment is a mid-range server system. A single mid-range server system may have a plurality of system boards that may, for example, be configured as one or more domains, where a domain, for example, may act as a separate machine by running its own instance of an operating system to perform one or more of the configured tasks.
The benefits of providing substantially independently operating domains within an integrated system become readily apparent as customers are able to perform a variety of tasks that would otherwise be reserved for several different machines. However, in some instances, it may be desirable to link one or more substantially independent domains, for example, to take advantage of common hardware resources. Additionally, it may be desirable to efficiently transfer data between domains while maintaining error isolation between the linked domains.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for data transfer. The method includes mapping a memory region of a source device into a central device and mapping a memory region of a target device into the central device. The method further includes transferring data from the mapped memory region of the source device to the mapped memory region of the target device.
In another embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus is provided for inter-domain data transfer. The apparatus includes an interface and a controller that is communicatively coupled to the interface. The controller is adapted to receive a task to transfer data from a first client domain to a second client domain and to map a memory region of the first client domain into a central domain. The controller is further adapted to map a memory region of a second client domain into the central domain, and transfer the data from the mapped memory region of the first client domain to the mapped memory region of the second client domain.
In yet another aspect of the instant invention, an article comprising one or more machine-readable storage media containing instructions is provided for inter-domain data transfer. The instructions, when executed, may enable a processor to access a transmit queue and determine that a message is stored in the transmit queue for execution, wherein the message comprises a source address and destination address. The instructions, when executed, may further enable the processor to map a memory region corresponding to the source address in a shared resource domain, map a memory region corresponding to the destination address in the shared resource domain, and transfer data between the mapped memory region of the source address and the destination address.